June 2012 Features

  • Land-Grant Universities Keeping Eyes on the Prize

    June 29, 2012

    This week, the World Food Prize Foundation presented the Norman E. Borlaug Medallion to the U.S. Land-grant University System. Winning agriculture’s highest honor is welcomed validation for a century and a half of progress to educate working-class Americans and build the world’s most successful food production system.

  • UGA Warning for Pond Owners after Cattle Deaths

    June 28, 2012

    University of Georgia researchers have determined that toxic algae killed four cows on a cattle farm in Gwinnett County. Georgia’s warm and dry spring created the perfect conditions for toxic algal blooms in ponds, they say, warning property owners to keep livestock and pets out of water that is discolored or opaque.

  • Farming's Biggest Handicap is of the Mind

    June 27, 2012

    Walter Joe Harper believes the biggest handicap is of the mind. The fifty-four year old Ambrose, Georgia tomato farmer who has been confined to a wheelchair since a car accident in 1990 left him with spinal damage and without the use of his legs said, “There are a lot of people walking that probably need more help than I do.”

  • Thrush Aircraft Teams with General Electric on 510G Model

    June 26, 2012

    Later this summer following federal certification, Thrush Aircraft will begin delivery of its 510G aircraft with the General Electric H80 engine. GE worked exclusively with Thrush to launch the new-generation engine, which offers increased temperature margins, better fuel efficiency and excellent thrust.

  • Tomatoes Susceptible to Herbicides for Turf and Pastures

    June 25, 2012

    Home gardeners often inadvertently and unknowingly damage their vegetables with herbicides. Tomatoes are especially sensitive to herbicide damage, which has become very common in recent years.

  • Cow Matchmaking

    June 22, 2012

    University of Georgia animal and dairy scientist Ignacy Misztal develops software programs to help cattlemen select more productive cow couplings. His unique bovine matchmaking skills have earned him an international fan base of animal breeders and researchers.

  • UGA Provides Training to Help Ensure Safety at the Farmers Market

    June 21, 2012

    Buying locally grown produce at the farmers market is a great way to ensure your family is getting the freshest food possible, but it doesn’t guarantee that the produce is safer. That’s the message that University of Georgia Extension Food Safety Specialist Judy Harrison has been sharing as she meets with farmers market organizers and vendors throughout Georgia.

  • Amadas Industries Built on Quality and Innovation

    June 20, 2012

    Since Oliver K. Hobbs and J. Carlie Adams created a partnership to produce peanut harvesting and processing equipment in 1962, the firm – now known as Amadas Industries – has prided itself on designing and building the highest quality machinery.

  • Georgia Department of Labor Releases Results of Prevailing Practices for Hiring Farm Workers

    June 19, 2012

  • Reforming Illegal Immigration One Social Security Number at a Time: E-Verify 101

    June 18, 2012

    The recently-enacted Georgia Illegal Immigration Reform and Enforcement Act of 2011, or IIREA (formerly Georgia HB 87), is the further spread of E-Verify at a state level. Alston & Bird LLP Attorneys Eileen M.G. Scofield and Nowell D. Berreth help in assisting agricultural employers in understanding their obligations under E-Verify.

  • One Man's Weed is Another Man's Flower

    June 15, 2012

    Ralph Waldo Emerson defined a weed as “a plant whose virtues have not yet been discovered.” To a serious gardener a weed can be nothing less than the bane of his or her existence. University of Georgia Cooperative Extension horticulturist Bob Westerfield says the best way to control weeds is to get to them early.

  • South Georgia 4-H'ers Have Fun Learning About Water Conservation

    June 13, 2012

    Dozens of 4-H students playing under a center pivot irrigation system may look like a fun way to cool off in the south Georgia heat. But it's also a careful lesson in water conservation. 4-H agents used the irrigation system to teach children in grades 5 to 8 about the importance of water and water conservation. On June 6, 4-H students from Mitchell, Baker, Colquitt, Decatur and Randoph counties descended upon the University of Georgia's Stripling Irrigation Research Park to take part in the fifth annual 4-H20 camp.

  • Connected Farm Delivers Speed and Accuracy to Large Operations

    June 11, 2012

    In February, Crossroads Family Farms in Fortville, IN received seven new Challenger tractors equipped with Trimble's Connected Farm integrated operations management solution. During this spring's planting, data from the tractors was sent wirelessly to the farm office, creating greater efficiencies in the office and the field.

  • UGA Extension Helps Poultry Farmers Lower Their Power Bills

    June 08, 2012

    The practices that can help us save energy in our own homes, like sealing leaks, insulating and updating cooling systems and replacing light bulbs, are also being used to make Georgia’s prolific poultry industry more efficient — one chicken house at a time.

  • Georgia Guardsmen Return to UGA to Present Base Flag

    June 06, 2012

    The Georgia National Guard’s Agribusiness Development Team I will be on the University of Georgia campus June 11 at 2 p.m. to present the faculty of the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences with a UGA flag that was flown over their base in Logar Province in Afghanistan.

  • Southern States Steps Up Yield Improvement Efforts

    June 04, 2012

    Feeding a growing population on the same amount of arable land is a challenge that keeps many agribusiness companies, including Southern States Cooperative, up at night. To support an estimated global population of 9 billion in 30 years would require improving yields from around 130 bushels per acre today to 300 bushels per acre or more.

  • Red Bugs: It's all Over but the Itching

    June 01, 2012

    As children get out of school for the summer, many will be spending time at outdoor camps or just playing in the woods. Unfortunately, in Georgia, just a few summer hours spent outside can mean coming home with red bug bites.